Welfare to support working families is affordable, declares Carrie Lam
Carrie Lam rejects criticism of government welfare policy, pointing out new allowance depends upon an assets test and supports families in work
Chief Secretary Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor has brushed off concerns over the city's rising welfare expenditure, offering strong support for the headline poverty alleviation measure announced in the policy address.
"The allowance is unlikely to generate a large fiscal burden on the government," she said. "Unlike the Old Age Living Allowance - where spending will grow due to Hong Kong's fast-greying population - the Low-Income Working Family Allowance hinges on families with working members and children. In fact, spending may actually decrease.
"After the allowance has run for a while, feel free to see if it has the poverty alleviation impact as expected," Lam, who was speaking at a media briefing, added.
The initiative - the first to target working poor families not on welfare - will be managed by the Efficiency Unit in a bid to avoid the stigma which can come with receiving support. The unit would need extra manpower as well as offices for managing distribution of the allowance, Lam said.
The Efficiency Unit, which reports directly to the chief secretary, will study the feasibility of setting up a "one-stop" unified application system for the assortment of welfare subsidies and programmes available, said Lam.
The allowance was announced as the leading poverty alleviation initiative in Leung Chun-ying's policy address on Wednesday.